


Round and Round (I Won’t Run Away This Time)

by agirlnamedtruth



Category: The Vampire Diaries & Related Fandoms, The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Episode Related, Episode: s04e16 Bring It On, F/M, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-16
Updated: 2013-03-16
Packaged: 2017-12-05 12:31:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/723334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agirlnamedtruth/pseuds/agirlnamedtruth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set after 4x16, Damon and Elena happen by a carnival and Elena wants to have some fun. Mild spoilers for the episode.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Round and Round (I Won’t Run Away This Time)

**Author's Note:**

> Written for this [picture prompt](http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj78/duskdusk/teampoetry/merrygoround_zps87fb00f7.jpg) at [Writerverse](http://writerverse.livejournal.com) and for the prompt 'Nightfall' at [dailyfics](http://dailyfics.livejournal.com/).

“Come on Damon, it’ll be fun,” Elena said, her tone twisting him around her finger rather than actually begging. “You remember fun, don’t you? That thing you said we’d have.”

“But does being caught feeding in broad daylight and ending up on the not so great end of an angry mob sound like fun to you?” Damon grabbed her elbow and steered her passed the entrance to the carnival. He was more concerned about losing her on some whim than the ramifications of their dinner but he wasn’t lying, it was still light and no good would come from being careless, especially if it got back to Stefan.

“It will be dark soon enough.” A smile cracked over her face with something akin to the excitement of the children rushing by. “We can play spot the victim!”

Damon shot her a look, like one of a stressed parent trying to control an unruly kid and she pulled a face in return.

“Come on,” she tried again. “It’s crowded, it’s getting dark, people will start drinking, eating half their weight in sugar. They might start tasting like candyfloss and toffee apples.”

She stopped walking, purposefully running her hand up Damon’s arm. “We could ride to the top of the ferris wheel and jump all the way down. We could win all the games, every single one,” her hand came up to rest on his neck and he stepped into her body out of habit. “And all the teenagers will be sneaking off to make out...or more.”

“You promise you’ll behave yourself?” He asked even though it was futile, she had him whipped, for the moment at least. Nonetheless she brought her finger up to her chest and drew a cross there, over her heart. “Alright,” he gave in.

-x-

A few hours later it was pitch black aside from the gaudy lights of the rides and the stalls. True to her word, Elena hadn’t run off nor had she killed anyone, she’d fed with moderation from several people, as had Damon. They watched which couples sneaked off into the darkness and then followed them, leaving a few marks on their flesh that they would think was the result of their passion. 

Elena grabbed his hand as they were walking passed the carousel, dragging him towards it. “I haven’t been on one of these in years!”

Damon saw the genuine smile on her face and humoured her as she pulled him up the steps even thought it was still moving. He never cared for carousels himself, they were for happy families, all pink and flashy and the music did his head in. Not to mention the only time he’d felt it necessary to be on horseback was during battle and that was a far cry from the slow, steady up and down of the painted horses. But he stood patiently while Elena mounted the wooden horse, her leg wrapping round the metal pole almost obscenely so she could sit side-saddle and face him. Although the horse’s head was bowed low, sitting like that would have been uncomfortable for a human but somehow she made it look effortless.

“Thank you,” she said, leaning the side of her head against the metal.

“What for?” Damon tilted his head to the same angle, hoping to catch a glimmer of her humanity.

“I don’t know, for not treating me like a time bomb, I guess. Stefan kept looking at me like any moment I would go all Ripper, just like him. It’s nice to be trusted.”

“He trusts you. Stefan loved you for your humanity; he just doesn’t want to see you lose it. And he’s scared, he can’t shut it off like us because he _will_ go all Ripper and he doesn’t want risk that happening to you,” Damon explained, not sure why he was justifying his brother’s frame of mind while Elena was looking up at him, her big brown eyes drawing him in until he couldn’t help but brush her hair away from them. Maybe it was because half of them were his own fears as well. What if he couldn’t keep her from becoming a Ripper? What if she ran and he lost her?

“And what do you love me for?” She asked, the edge of suspicion hardening her voice.

“You,” he said, dismissing all his lingering doubts. He trusted her, he did, he had to. 

He leaned in and kissed her until the flow of the carousel moved her out of reach. He stepped back, descending the moving steps and putting himself back on solid, unmoving ground. 

She gave him a wave and turned to sit on the horse properly, her feet falling into the stirrups and her hands gripping the pole like a child half scared she would fall. He watched as she disappeared, trusting that she would come back round again. And she when she did, he smiled, his trust in her paying off when she titled her head back in laughter, her hair streaming behind her like the a mane of the horse and the lights reflecting off her skin. Damon couldn’t tell if it was the sugar high from all the syrup sweet blood they’d drunk or if she was honestly that happy to be free and he was just honestly happy.


End file.
